1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to graphical user interface (GUI). Still more particularly the present invention relates to an improved method, apparatus, and computer usable code for customizing portal pages.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portal displays information aggregated from different sources. The information is customized for a specific user and is dynamically updated. The user interacts with the portal by specifying what information is displayed and how it is displayed. A user may customize a portal by specifying the user's preferences so that each time the user accesses the portal, the portal checks the user's preferences and displays the information that the user wants in the form in which the user wants the information to be displayed. The user may also vary which information is displayed or how it is displayed by interacting with the portal in real-time in addition to using user preferences.
For example, a user can specify which publicly traded companies the user is interested in and the portal may display stock quotes and recent news items about those companies. Because each user may be interested in different companies, each user's portal displays only what that user wants to see and in the way the user wants to see it. A portal may also be used to monitor a computer network by monitoring the status of different network resources.
Each time a user preference is added, the portlet(s) associated with that preference are added to the portal. Thus, customization of a portal page may result in many portlets being crowded into the portal page, which may result in a cluttered portal that makes it difficult for the user to view all the portlets clearly.